The state of Massachusetts is considering implementing a mandatory vaccine law. The law would force kids to obtain a flu shot before attending a public school.
The state realizes, however, that presenting such a law would cause outrage among large numbers of parents.
“So it is an approach that we would use, we would consider,” said Dr. Lawrence Madoff of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. “We want to use the least burdensome methods of getting people vaccinated that we can.”
“Probably the most important thing is getting as many kids vaccinated as possible,” Madoff said.
Flu shot rates are already high in the state. And many parents would fight such a move.
“They’ve had all these other shots, over an 18 to 24 month period, then you’re going to give them more shots and you don’t know how that’s going to impact their health. It’s not a good idea,” one person told Boston 25 News.
Even some area nurses are not sure that pushing a new flu shot law is the right move.
“There are kids now who are going to school, like I work in a special needs school, who are immunocompromised or not as healthy,” Mindy Gold, a pediatric nurse, said. “And if they could be protected by other kids being immunized, whether it should be the law, I’m not really certain.”
Neighboring Connecticut has a mandatory flu shot law in place for children ages 2 to 4 who intend to attend public school. The law has been widely criticized by those who support parental rights.
This post uses highly selective quotations from people who don’t seem to know what they’re talking about. Contrary to the unnamed person who said “you don’t know how that’s going to impact their health”, the effect of the flu vaccine has been extensively studied to ensure it is safe and effective. FDA approval for vaccines has a much higher bar for safety than other drugs, because they are being given to healthy people, and the frequency of adverse effects has to be much, much lower than the danger of the disease being protected against.